GDB +13.0: Oilers fall in game seven

First off, I want to thank everyone at the Nation Network for bringing me in this year as a writer and now News Director.

Second, I want to thank you, the reader for reading content across the network all year long. We couldn’t do it without you.

This one stings and it will for a while. The Oilers were outmatched for the majority of the game and struggled to get things going when they needed to most.

After all, this was an Oilers team who exceeded the expectations of many. I for one didn’t see us getting to game seven of the Stanley Cup finals when the season began months ago.

From start to finish, this was a season I won’t soon forget. The excitement of the playoffs was real. The excitement of having the second best team in the Pacific Division was real and this will be an Edmonton Oilers team that will be dominant for years to come.

The Oilers are young and despite being a very good team, they are not yet great. That will come as this team ages.

I don’t doubt for a second that in the future the Oilers will be able to hoist Lord Stanley’s mug and it may be sooner than you expect.

Tonight, the game started at a solid pace, with both teams getting physical early. The Oilers outshot the Ducks and three and a half minutes in, Shea Theodore slid the puck into his own net.

Drake Caggiula was given credit for the tally, giving the Oilers the early lead.

An early highlight was Cam Talbot playing defence, pulling his best Dominik Hasek impression as he slid far out of his net to clear a puck to the side. The Oilers defenders got caught out of position but the Dadbot himself was able to make up for it.

The Oilers controlled the first 10 minutes of play, which was highlighted by another great Talbot move stopping a high shot then collapsing down on the loose puck.

Following Talbot’s snowman save, the pace seemed to shift a bit towards the Ducks — as could be expected.

It led to a great Ducks chance and Cam Fowler was able to slide a point shot past Talbot — the catch was that Fowler had just hopped off the bench to come in and take the shot, but the puck had slid outside of the Oilers zone, effectively making the goal mute.

The first period as a whole from the Oilers was about as perfect as could be.

The second saw the Oilers with a strong start in the first five minutes limiting the Ducks attempts. The Ducks got their first power-play attempt of the game when Eric Gryba dropped Ryan Kesler at the side of the Oilers net.

Talbot certainly earned his nickels as he made a few more big saves on the shorthanded chance.

Their power-play gave them some momentum, and minutes after the kill a scramble in front of the Oilers net ended with Andrew Cogliano scoring his first goal of the playoffs.

It took a few more minutes before the Oilers were able to weather the Ducks’ storm with some good chances of their own.

In the second, the Oilers went without a shot attempt between 3:05 and 11:40, then 14:00 and 19:32. It certainly didn’t bode well for the Oilers.

The Ducks brought their momentum into the third frame, and three and a half minutes in Nick Ritchie found himself uncovered in front of the Oilers net. His shot found the top corner over Talbot’s shoulder, giving the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

From there out, the Oilers were unable to muster much. They surged late when a 6-on-5 turned into a 6-on-4 thanks to Corey Perry’s broken stick, but the Ducks were up to the task.

The Oilers struggled through most of the night after a really great start. The Ducks power-play in the second frame seemed to really give them life and they never turned back.

Give them credit — the Ducks played one hell of a series. They are a good team who has been through all this before.

We’ll be back.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

May 10, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot (33) blocks a shot against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period in game seven of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Cam Talbot had a great night. He really was this game’s MVP and kept the Oilers in a tight one all night long.

This is the first of many deep playoff runs.

THE FACE PALMERS

May 10, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Edmonton Oilers players react following the 2-1 loss against the Anaheim Ducks in game seven of the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

It’s quite simple: The Oilers got knocked out of the playoffs.

After all, the Oilers weren’t able to do enough to get back on the score sheet after giving up the Cogliano goal.

A delicate balance is needed between having enough skill to win in the regular season and make the playoffs, but having enough unskilled dirty players to shut down the other team’s stars by hooking, holding, slashing, crosschecking them into submission when the refs stop calling penalties in the playoffs. The Oilers have the skill now I believe. Next need is to either teach these skilled players how to commit infractions without getting called (ie. Getzlaff), or replace some of the redundant skill with marginal NHL players who aren’t paid much but can play in the playoffs when clutching and grabbing is legal. Must be tough to be a GM in the NHL.

Its not something new, the NHL has called playoff games like that for decades. Only pro league in the sport that has 2 rule books, one for the regular season and one for playoffs. Some teams are better at adapting and some teams are better at whinning about it

For the last 10 years our season was done in Oct. / Nov…
Well done Oiler Fans, except for a few jersey’s on the ice over the years, we have all pretty much stuck by our team…
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome all the Ex Canuck fans into the fold…
Welcome, as we all have some very exciting hockey in our future.

This has been the best season in 11 years. Although I’m disappointed by game 7, can anybody say you’re disappointed by this season? The Oilers were awesome! They were in a playoff position for the entire season. They had the highest scoring player in the league, the entire season. We never had one of those awful losing streaks. The most important thing is that they never quit. This team had no quit this year and that is the most important thing. How many times did you see them chuck in the game just because they were down? This is why I feel a little sorry for Eberle. He just doesn’t have that attitude. He played on a team of quitters for so long he just doesn’t know any other way. The future’s so bright here, we’re all going to need shades.

I agree that Eberle played on a team of quitters but in my opinion he was one of them. He plays very good when the opposing teams are not physical, but when he faced the Anaheim’s in his league, he faded and showed little interest in producing.

Please do not write any more. This was terrible. I felt so violated after reading this that I literally signed up so I could comment about how bad this was to read.

1. Drake poked the puck off Shea’s stick to score the first goal. How about a little credit where it is due?
2. I disagree with your assessment of the first period, it was not a perfect period for the Oilers. But it is what it is.
3. Just wrong about the second ducks goal. In the replays it clearly goes in under Talbots arm.
4. The third last paragraph makes no sense to me. “…but the Ducks were no match”?

Gotta get rid of Ebs and Pou. I’d be more than willing to move Nuge too, and think he can stil lfetch a decent return…. Lucic, he always seems to be on the wrong defensive side of the puck 🙁 , and it looked like he cost us the 2nd goal….. similar to that ot goal in game 5, the guy was wide open in the circle. I’m concerned about his deal too. This team will be a contender, but i think there will be some big changes this summer….. The worst part about this loss is the Oilers are the better team, they, and the bounces (refs), somewhat beat themselves…. I hope Randy Carlye gets swept

Nice stats nerd. Where are the stats for how the refs impacted the majority of the series? Corsi and Fenwick stats don’t compensate got when one team is getting called for penalties that the other team isn’t.

I have absolutely LOVED watching this team this year. After the past 10 years it feels so good to be engaged, excited and hopeful for what is coming with this team. The fact that Oiler fans were all-in makes last nights game that much more disappointing, but it was a great, great year of watching this team get better. I will miss the hours of entertainment and excitement this team brought.

1. After DOD 2nd round feels deep… different vibe in D.C. Basically we r grading on a curve
2. The seeding for the second round was dumb. The two top teams remaining in the west played eachother. If seeding happened based on points we would have been matched against a much weaker st. Louis club.

So Ovechkin was playing with pain numbing injections to his knee, Crosby playing with a concussion, I highly suspect McDavid has some kind of rib injury. Based on the lack of penalties called and suspensions given, this is apparently what the NHL wants during the playoffs.

In my opinion how is the season nothing more than a success. I don’t know about the rest of you but playoff hockey is a hell of a lot more exciting than watching Bill Daley flip over cards to determine our position in the draft. This team showed a lot of character and learned some tough lessons that championship teams must learn. It’s tough and bitter knowing that the refs blew 2 games that ultimately costed us the series but that should only fuel this fanbase even more. Now that we know what the playoffs feel like, let’s never let it go. Need to feed out a few players ( Ebs and Pou) and bring in someone to win a damn faceoff. This team will be back strong as ever next April and will be contenders in the coming years. LETS GO OILERS

I agree, the season was a success. I just wish there weren’t so many questions regarding officiating and goal reviews in round 2. The Oilers definitely need to be better and more consistent to be a contender, but I truly believe they are better than the Ducks. I don’t think they would have beaten the Predators but it would have been fun to watch.

Oilers fans may be spoiled because Gretzky turned so many good players into great players. Similar to how a musician like Jerry Garcia turned the rest of the dead into great musicians. Genius can unlock people, compensating for them, getting them into headier experiences… I do believe McDavid’s leadership is the reason we went from near last to near Stanley (a couple extra calls and a couple extra players and we tip the scales IMO).

Now, about tipping the scales, the Oilers need to unlock Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle. These are players with real value that we are at risk of squandering. What do these guys need? How can they reset their dreams from swaggering down Edmonton’s main streets to having real value on McDavid’s team? It may require trades. It may require pump and dumps to get value back. It may require ayahuasca… but what ever it takes, we need to get value from these assets either on the team or off. Exposing Eberle, for example, if you are one of those people, is all kinds of stupid.

As painful as last night was, I just can’t bring myself to be negative. After going beyond all expectations this season, and learning valuable lessons, we should be immensely proud of these boys.
Can we have at least a short time to bask in the glory of this team’s future? We have all summer to argue about who has to go and how to do it.